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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. R. CHURCHILL.

VENETIAN BLIND.

No. 595,146. Patented Dec. 7,1897.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

R. CHURCHILL.

VENETIAN BLIND.

No. 595,146. Patented Dec. 7,1897.

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LITHOH WASHINGTON n r Unnrn STATES r f M PATENT FFICE.

VENETIAN BLIND.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 595,146, dated December 7, 1897. A fi ti fil d Decembe 23,1896. Serial No. 616,766. (No model.) Patented in England June 22, 1896, No. 13,771.

To all whom, it may concern..-

Be it known that I, REGINALD CHURCHILL, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Burtonbn-Trent, in the county of Stafford and Kingdom of England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Venetian Blinds or Collapsible Shutters, of which the following is a specification, and for which I have obtained Letters Patent in GreatBritain, No. 13,771, dated June 22, 1896.

This invention pertains to improvements in collapsible blinds and shutters for windows and other analogous uses, and has distinct reference to that class of blind or shutter well known the Venetian.

The object of the invention is to construct a collapsible blind or shutter in such a manner that its durability shall be considerably increased, its appearance made neater, and the repairing of the same, when required, faeilitated,and this is accomplished by mounting or suspending the slats or laths of which the blind is composed upon a series of inwardly-foldin g hin ge-plates, preferably made of sheet metal or other suitable rigid material, and each hinge-plate being provided with a cut-away portion to provide a central opening when the said hinges are folded, through which the slat-operating cords may pass, as will hereinafter appear.

To these ends the invention consists in the novel features of construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, and more definitely pointed out in the claim which concludes this specification.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a Venetian blind constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of a portion of a blind with my improved hinge-plates applied thereto. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of a portion of a blind, showing the hinge-plates and slats opened out. Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the plates folded and slats collapsed. Fig. 5is an enlarged de' tail front view of one of the hinge-plates. Fig. 6 illustrates a side and bottom view, respectively, of one of the slat-carriers. Fig.7 illustrates in plan and side elevation, respectively, one of the hinge-plates. Fig. 8 is a modified form of hinge-plate with ornamental stamping. Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view of the stop-knuckle joint of the hinge-plates, and Fig. 10 is a detail View of one of the removable pins which connect the parts of the hinge-plates.

The blind to is composed of slats or laths .9, carried by cross-bars b of a depth sufficient to accommodate them, the ends of which cross-bars are fashioned into barrel parts W, as clearly shown in Fig. 6. Each and every slat or lath of which the blind or shutter is composed is fixedly connected to two of these cross-bars or carriers 1), one of the latter upon each end of the lath, and the said carriers are supported or suspended by pairs of inwardly-folding plates a hingedly connected to each other and to the carriers or cross-bars in vertical line on both edges of the slats by knuckle-joints a and hinge-like parts a. A pair of these folding plates a are arranged to span the divisional space between each and every slat or lath, and each of the pair consists of two thin metallic parts a a, connected together and also to one of the ends 19 of the carriers 1) by the simple hinge connections a a, a stop being arranged upon the knuckle-hinged part (1 as clearly shown in Fig. 9, to prevent the possibility of the hinged-together folding fittings straightening out to a vertical line, which would interfere with their action.

One of each of the parts a and a is clearly shown in front and edge view in Fig. 7, and these and also the carriers to which they are connected are made from thin metal, Xylonite, vulcanite, or other such hard'wearing material, and loosely jointed the one to the other, so as to combine and constitute a folding fitting to the slats.

The parts constituting the fitting, when made from sheet metal, are produced by stamping and of certain standard sizes, so as to facilitate duplication should any part be come broken or badly worn, and the fitting together of the same is such that they can be very simply disconnected or taken apart and again put together when the blind or shutter is required to be cleaned, and to accomplish this the center pin a of the knuckle and hinged joints is preferably made of wire with one end split to slightly open out and prevent its withdrawal, as shown in detail in Fig. 10.

eachother can be accomplished in various ways, so long as a free and loose connection is effected.

My improved fittings may be suitably embellished and embossed to give an ornamental appearance to the blind, and thewear of the same would be" practically indefinite.

. Having fullydescribed myinvention, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Pat- 'ent, is

In a Venetian blind'or shutter, thecombination with the slats or laths thereof each having cord-openings therein near-their opposite ends; of a hanger for said slats comprising a series of inwardly-folding hingeplates a a, connected to the opposite sides of the slats by removable pins, each of said hinge-plates being provided With a cut-away portion to provide a central opening, which openings register with the cord-openings in the slats when the hinge-plates are folded, and stop-knuckles on the hinge-joints between the slats to normally hold them out of a vertical line to facilitate the folding operation, substantially as described.

.In witness whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

REGINALD CH UROHILL.

Witnesses:

GEO. AVERY, A. F. BIDDLE. 

